USACE Hosts Meetings on Miami Harbor Navigation Improvements Study

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, is set to host two National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) scoping meetings for the Miami Harbor Navigation Improvements Study.

Image source: USACE

The meetings will be held today, at Cruise Terminal F on Port Miami, 1103 North Cruise Blvd., Miami, Fla, The first meeting will take place from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and the second meeting from 6 to 8 p.m.

According to USACE, the purpose of the scoping meeting is to present and discuss the production of a NEPA document for the feasibility study, and to assess the effects of potential navigation improvements to Miami Harbor.

The scoping meetings will aid in determining the scope of the NEPA analysis and any potentially significant issues. The NEPA process will also identify alternatives and information needed to evaluate alternatives.

Alternatives under consideration for the study include:

  • no action;
  • widening and/or deepening of specific areas within Miami Harbor’s federally authorized channels, including: the Outer Entrance Channel Flare, Outer Entrance Channel, Elbow, Fisherman’s Channel, and Dodge-Lummus Island Turning basin.

Issues that are anticipated include concern for hardbottom/reef communities, turbidity and sedimentation associated with dredging operations, seagrasses, threatened and endangered species, and cultural, commercial and recreational resources.